Florida's Stand Your Ground Laws May Get Even Goofier. You Won't Believe the latest news.
OPEN CARRY CAN BE SCARRY
BAD LAWS, BULLETS, BOOZE and TESTOSTERONE make for a bad combination
Be truthful. How comfortable are you sitting next to someone with an automatic weapon in his holster? It’s there for everyone to see. What’s the message the gunslinger is sending? Some would say he's looking for trouble. The NRA would say he is there to protect you. hmm! Do you feel protected?
The latest bit of foolishness from the land of too much sun and way too many guns is a new law proposed by the overzealous gun crazy Republican Dennis Baxley. His latest Bill now proposes that the burden of proof should be shifted from defendants to prosecutors. The person who did the shooting or made a threat would be considered to have done so legally and properly. Futhermore, that person would be entitled to recovery of court cost and legal fees.
According to the American Bar Association:
“If our aim is to increase criminal justice system costs, increase medical costs, increase racial tension, maintain our high adolescent death rate and put police officers at greater risk, then this is good legislation. But if we are to use science and data and logic and analysis to drive sensible public policy, then there is no reliable and credible evidence to support laws that encourage stand your ground and shoot your neighbor.”
WOW - Florida looks like the perfect place to commit murder.
Something to think about:. You're sitting with a group of friends rooting for your home team. Four guys walk into the park and sit a row directly in back of you. They are armed with Glocks in holsters strapped around their hips. They have been drinking and it’s obvious they are rooting for the opposing team. The bantering between rows gets heavier. It started off friendly enough, but as the game progresses and the score gets closer, tension begins to build.
Your team takes the lead on a disputed call and your friends are acting like many young men do when the drinks and testosterone fully integrate their systems. The guys in the next row have been throwing down the beers and tequila shots as well. Your guys are exuberant. Your neighbors are pissed.
What are the chances of someone pulling a weapon ... then firing it? Even if the chances are slim, how would you like to find yourself in that situation? That’s the question we all have to consider if and when we find ourselves in that situation, especially in a state like Florida that not only has an open carry provision, but also allows you to shoot your neighbor if he threatens or intimidate you in almost any way, even jokingly..
You probably know a couple borderline wack jobs who could do that, especially after a couple, six or seven beers under their belt. They could be off the hook under the provisions of Florida's “Stand your ground” law - awhich has had several incidents in Florida where it has been put to the test.
Getting back to the men next to you with the guns, booze and testosterone scenario, wouldn’t this strike you as a “perfect storm” kind of situation? It sure as hell would bother me and I am not alone.
Those with the guns would probably say that the opposing side should have left the premises if they were uncomfortable. The victim side would respond that it was within their rights to stay.
Florida’s goofy laws would no doubt clear the shooters if there was even the smallest inkling of a threat, serious or not from the other side.
IMAGINE HOW A BLACK MAN FEELS WITH THESE LAWS ON THE BOOKS.
The end result: a shooting over no apparent reason except that that the shooters had a way out that seems to work in the glorious state of Florida. Heaven help us all.
That concludes this piece. Reasonable men have a conclusion about the issues. The NRA? Well, we know how they feel about their guns. Boys and their toys-- You know the drill.
STAND 'Em Up Then Shoot Them Down.
It's ironic that here in the land of Christian Conservatives, human life is so carelessly tossed aside in favor or overzealous gun laws. Shooting a person is easy now in Florida, if someone looks cross eyed at you. or otherwise offends your delicate personna. Stand them up then shoot 'em down. It's OK its legal. It's Florida
